Some of you may have thought my last article was a little in your face, where I'm basically telling you to suck it up and learn whatever you need to learn to succeed.
Along the same lines, this may rub many of you the wrong way, but it's important that you understand exactly why you may be resistant to trying new ways to market and promote your business. Why you may be resistant to learning a new technology. Why you may be resistant to even read this article.
I was going to sugarcoat this a little bit, but I then thought that maybe hitting you over the head with this might prove to be more effective. Even at the risk of having you unsubscribe for the very reasons I'm about to outline for you.
- You are NOT designed to be great.
- You are NOT designed to be happy.
- You are NOT designed to be successful.
- You are NOT designed to have integrity.
- You are NOT designed to be faithful.
- You are NOT designed to be loyal.
- You are NOT designed to be a great athlete.
- You are NOT designed to be a successful internet marketer.
- You are NOT designed for success in your business.
- You are NOT designed to be alive!
You are basically not designed to be anything other than ordinary, which means you are designed for one thing and one thing only - to survive and multiply.
Benjamin Franklin once said, "The average American male dies at 25 and is buried at 65."
All t his seems to fly in the face of most self-help and success books out there which tell you that you are designed and destined for greatness. But if you listen hard enough, you'll see that nothing here goes against what they teach. I'm just drawing important distinctions all the other fluffy Law of Attraction gurus won't give you for fear of losing out on the 'lazy' sales.
Why We Live Among the Ordinary
When you look at most people around in this world, you'll notice that there is a hierarchy. The few control the masses and the masses allow themselves to be controlled by circumstance. This is the first piece of data, which should catch your attention.
Through the course of human history, whenever anyone has attempted and succeeded in having a life of significance and impacting others, it came at a heavy price.
Martin Luther King, Jr. gave up much of his personal freedom - was thrown in jail many times, worked tirelessly against incredible odds, risked his life and ultimately gave his life to inspire our country to become a more perfect nation. All this against the advice of even other African-American activist. And most definitely despite his own fears, doubts and survival instincts.
Pat Tillman left million dollars and an NFL career to serve his country in Afghanistan and ultimately give his life for a cause he believed in. He gave up comfort, a lavish lifestyle and most probably was confronted with a surge of fear at many points before and after his decision.
Ghandi invented and manifested the real possibility of having a non-violent revolution and liberate India from the British. He gave his life for this cause as well. Even when faced with opposition from fellow countrymen he persisted. He fasted to end violence among Muslims and Hindus - a fast which nearly killed him.
Tiger Woods has practiced the game of golf since he was 3 years old and continues to practice with vigor. He even at one point changed his swing from what was natural to him and proven to be successful. He faced much criticism by "golf experts" and critics, because they thought he was throwing away a "sure thing". This transition cost him a few wins, but ultimately led to even greater success than what he had before as he mastered his new style.
Fighting Against Our Biology
In whatever industry, point in history or country, you will find a minority of people who have managed to set themselves apart from others. Privately, you may know extraordinary individuals who have overcome both physical and exterior obstacles to accomplish extraordinary things.
In my martial arts school, I get to witness the progress of someone starting at white belt and seeing how they manage to "re-wire" themselves to perform extraordinary feats of human agility, which they weren't able to do when they started.
Even if they had been taught how to do a jumping spin kick on Day 1, their biology at that point in time would not have allowed them to do it. But over the course of many months training, that impossibility becomes possible.
Not too long ago, I shared this discovery about my own biology to my teacher, Chief Master Taejoon Lee. I said to him,
"You know, sir. I've come to discover that anytime we try to do something that is positive or for self-betterment, we hit walls regardless of whether there are any exterior forces keeping us from succeeding. We are fighting against our own biology - our fears, our thoughts, our physical state, our lazyness, etc."
He replied,
"That's right. That's why I have to teach someone how to do a simple front kick 300 times over the course of their training. Their bodies aren't designed to do it correctly. Doing it the right way hurts, it's taxing, it requires certain physical properties they dont' have yet. But they will only acquire those properties if they work towards doing it correctly through practice. If they practice doing it wrong, then they will always do it wrong."
I reflected on Master Lee's words and did a deep self inquiry as to why I am the way I am. What I found was scary... Not so much for myself, but for the world. All of a sudden
The Matrix became real!
We operate very much like machines - biological machines programmed to whine, complain, blame, make up excuses, lie, cheat, seek pleasure, avoid pain and then use reason to keep ourselves from taking responsibility for our actions and the crappy state of our lives, businesses, family life or anything else we experience.
We are perfectly designed to be bland and ordinary and then create a story as to why we are that way. We tell ourselves that we have strengths and weaknesses and that we are limited as to what we can do because of this.
Hitting the Glass Ceiling in Life
We hit a class ceiling in life called our biology. Whenever we do what is easy, we are moving according to our biology - our design. Whenever we do what is hard, new and out of our comfort zone, we are engaging in battle with our biology.
Many will roam through life searching for meaning from God or other deity as to why we have the life we have. We seek meaning, because we want someone - in this case someone divine - to give us an excuse for not taking responsibility for the state of our lives. Hoping there is good reason to remain unsatisfied and mediocre.
Simply put, there is no meaning to life other than what we assign to it. What we create for it.
The Anti-dote for Mediocrity
By now, I've probably bummed you out and maybe even pissed you off. You are thinking, "if we are all designed to live ordinary crappy lives, what is the difference between the ordinary and extraordinary?"
Simple, the difference are the CHOICES we make. When faced with difficult circumstances, extraordinary people make choices based on what they want for themselves and their lives and not what is easy.
The one freedom we have been given to overcome our design are our choices - as human beings we are the only animal on the planet with choices. We can choose to simply survive (which is relatively easy) or we can choose a life of significance.
In the face of our circumstance...
In the face of our doubts...
In the face of our fears...
In the face of what seems logical...
Choice, nullifies everything and gives us complete freedom to do and be whatever we want to be.
"No Offense... But What the Heck Does This Have to Do with Marketing?" Ha ha ha... glad you asked.
Recently many of you have been asking questions, which included phrases like:
- "the easiest way to generate leads."
- "the fastest way to get customers."
- "whether you need to be technically savvy to do attraction marketing."
- "doing attraction marketing for free."
- "how do I get free traffic?"
And these are very good questions and there are good answers to all of these. But I also want to make people aware of the fact that even though Attraction Marketing is more leveraged, much easier and more powerful than any other form of marketing - it still requires that you become a professional.
As a professional you are asked to become a serious student of the game. You have to be willing to fail. You have to be willing to acquire new skills. You have to be disciplined in making sure you follow through with everything you set out to do. You have to be willing to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to be successful.
our mindset will require some shifting as well. Instead asking "what's the easiest way to do this?", you should be asking "what's the most effective (powerful) way to do this?"
All this will require you to make choices, instead of rationalizing through your circumstance and finding a convenient path. Dare to shoot for the impossible and the results will amaze you.
With choice, you now have the ability to tap into something within your design which is truly unlimited and extraordinary - your potential.
Your Choice - An Extraordinary Fully Used Up Life or Die with a Full Tank of Potential? Screw Your Biology and Let's Make Things Happen.
